Alright, it was inevitable, Sherman and I were both eating; but in 2 different places simultaneously. What to do? Of course Sherman had his trusty DSLR and was off to Hon's after playing hockey. What about me? Well, I was sucked into doing my very first entry into the blog. Armed with my trusty Canon SD630, I headed off to Adonia with my sister-in-law. Actually, we were planning to go to The Secret Garden; but it was completely packed. I had called Sherman to ask where we should eat in the Kerrisdale area. He was a bit too busy at the time taking off his goalie gear to be much help. He took the opportunity to sneak in, "you should get an iPhone" suggestion.

Alright, I really do not have time to be blogging about anything, let alone Sherman's obsessive food adventures. But, he really gave me no choice. We wandered around Kerrisdale in search of a place to eat when we stumbled upon Adonia. Completely empty, we were able to pick where ever we wanted to sit. It was interesting to see that the place was run by Asians. No matter, as Sherman says, it's not important who makes it, as long as it is good. We went in with an open mind. Originally, I sat facing the window which makes for very poor photos. I actually got my sis-in-law to switch seats with me for the sake of better photos. Geez, I pulled a Sherman there... Next, you'll find me moving tables and asking total strangers if I could take pictures of their food! Wait, I'll leave that up to Sherman. He has no shame.

Adonia is a quaint little English-style teahouse nestled in the heart of Kerrisdale. Adorned with floral wallpaper and wood paneling; it really has the decor to put you in the mood for high tea. It had a comfy and cozy feel as if I were invited into someone's house for tea. At $22.00 per person, it included choice of tea, Scones, Potato Salad with Shrimp and the traditional three-tiered platter. The platter included mini-sandwiches, hor d'oeuvres and desserts. As we sat waiting, the server set our table with antique teacups, saucers, spoons, sugar bowl, and creamer. I thought this added to the charm of the place. Interestingly, I noticed that the sugar spoon was actually a souvenir from Hell's Gate. The tea arrived first in individual glass teapots and came with a chafing bowl to keep it warm along with a bowl of sugar pellets and cream. I was a little disappointed to see that it wasn't an antique teapot. Anyway, onto the tea. I chose a mango tea and my sis-in-law chose an Earl Grey. I was afraid that the tea would be too fruity and overpowering, but it wasn't at all. It was perfect with just a hint of mango flavour. My sis-in-law noted that her Earl Grey wasn't as aromatic as others she has tried, but surprisingly when she had some, it was quite flavourful.

The first of the goodies to arrive were the two sweet and savory scones. The cheese scone had a nice and buttery texture and the raisin scone had a sugary and crunchy top to it. Next up was the three-tiered platter which we worked our way from the bottom up. On that note, no one came to explain anything or checked up on us other than the initial ordering, food service and final bill. On the bottom tier were cucumber sandwiches, ham sandwiches, egg salad and tuna salad sandwiches on mini cheese buns. The sandwiches were pretty standard. Although, the cucumber sandwiches were bland and were in need of a little salt and pepper. The middle tier had 3 different items. A baguette slice topped with green and red roasted peppers and shiitake mushroom, salmon lox on a toasted whole wheat bread, and a puff pastry with salmon mousse. I was looking forward to eating the lox because it's one of my faves, but oh my goodness was the bread toasted beyond chewable! I ended up just eating the lox by itself. The puff pastry wasn't flaky and the mousse was not pronounced at all. There wasn't much of it and I had a hard time figuring out what it actually was at first. By the time we reached the top tier for desserts, I was getting a little full...more from the tea than the food! What I found odd was that on every tier there was two of everything, but on the top a few of the items came as singles. I didn't get to have every piece of dessert since I was getting full, but overall the sweets were again standard. What was nice about them was it wasn't too sugary. Finally at the end, we were served panna cotta and cookies. I enjoyed the panna cotta except for the sweet jam layer on top of it. As for the cookies, they could have been more creative than serving a walnut shortbread, a cranberry and walnut shortbread, and a cranberry and walnut cookie.

Well, as a first high tea experience it was nice. It was definitely nothing to write home about, but I enjoyed being able to sit for a period of time chatting with my sis-in-law, and enjoying some bites of food. Although this experience has piqued my interest in trying out other teahouses to see how they compare. I'm sure there are better places for high tea out there (Secret Garden and Bacchus). In terms of service and quality of food, I find Adonia just average.

The Good:
- Quaint decor and china
- Tea was decent

The Bad:
- Average food
- Indifferent service, bordering on cold

6
comments:

holly
said...

Vivian, Congrats on your first posting. I have heard a lot about you from Sherman, lol.

Anyways, you're right about the indifferent service. Don't you think this is typical of asian run places? They sure do need some pointers on customer service.

When I went, the food was a little fresher, maybe because it was busy and we had made reservations. While I question their knowledge about tea, it was a pleasant space to catch up with the "girls".

We didn't feel hurried like some other popular tea places (Secret Garden).

It is good to read post here from a different perspective. As for the food, there seems to be enough to fill you up, specially if you are taking thing slowly by chatting with somebody else. Still, $22...

Holly - Yes, indifferent service is typical from Asian run restaurants. They just want to get the job done and not "make friends". When we were there, there was only 1 other table.

Kim - The bug didn't bite me...more like Sherman coerced me! Yeah, $22 is a lot. Tea is always expensive, but considering the quality of food and to some degree the amount of food I had (the sandwiches were really tiny), it wasn't worth it.